


He Knew

by PapayaK



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst, Episode: s07e21 Lost City (1), Gen, Missing Scene, Team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-15
Updated: 2014-09-15
Packaged: 2018-02-17 11:20:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2307755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PapayaK/pseuds/PapayaK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Missing Scene from the beginning of Lost City Part 1 : Jack knew exactly how the day was likely to shake out, but crosswords were so much more entertaining than considering your own mortality.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He Knew

 

Title: He knew

Author: Papaya

Category: Missing Scene

Spoilers/Season: Missing scene for 721 Lost City, tiny ones for Fifth Race and Abyss

Summary: What happened between Jack hanging up on Daniel and the elevator doors opening…

oO0Oo

_DANIEL:   Jack, I've been translating the ancient writing on the colonnade SG-2 discovered on P3X-439._   
_O'NEILL:   (over the phone) Daniel, I'll be there in half an hour._   
_DANIEL:  It talks about a library of knowledge, Jack. I think the monument contains a repository of the ancients._   
_O'NEILL: Repository you say._   
_DANIEL: Yeah, you know, that thing that grabbed your head, made you talk crazy, nearly killed you._   
_O'NEILL: Well, sounds like we should stay away then._   
_ANIEL:   Well, considering what we know now, we should be able to find another way to access the information. Sam's been able to use Tok'ra crystals to, to find a way to transfer all kinds of different energies, I mean…_

_[Daniel's voice fades as O'Neill takes his phone, and washes it in the sink, as it has shaving foam on it. Daniel's voice can be heard bubbling up from under the water.]_

_DANIEL: We should go there as soon as possible._   
  
_[O'Neill lifts the phone to his ear again.]_

_O'NEILL: Yeah?_   
_DANIEL: So?_   
_O'NEILL: I'll be there in half an hour._   
_DANIEL: Okay, bye._   
_O'NEILL: No, no, no, wait, don't hang up. I need a seven letter word._   
_DANIEL: I told Sam I wouldn't help you._   
_O'NEILL: Well then this will be the one thing she doesn't know. Up, down, charmed, blank._   
_DANIEL: Strange._   
_O'NEILL: (obviously unimpressed) N-yeah. Well, thanks anyway._   
  
_[He lowers the phone from his ear]_

_DANIEL: No, the word you're looking for—_

_[O'Neill disconnects the call. He washes his razor, unsticks the crossword, and leaves the bathroom.]_

oO0Oo

He knew.

Colonel Jack O’Neill knew exactly what a ‘repository’ was. 

He knew.

It hit him as he stared into the mirror listening to Daniel prattle on about crystals just how this day was likely to shake out. 

The thought wearied him. 

But crossword puzzles were so much more entertaining than considering your own mortality.

It was reflex actually, after so many missions.  As he dressed for the day, he couldn’t help but run through all the possible permutations the current intel could provide.  Most of them ended with his head in that thing, and no Thor in sight.

23 Across, atomic weight of Boron… he had to think on that one a while as he drove up the mountain.  Beryllium was nine, Bromine - seventy-nine.  Boron was ten!  He jotted it down.

He knew their main objective would be to keep the repository out of the hands of Anubis.  And as long as they made sure to destroy it after… that should ensure he got no part of anything.  He made a mental note to put explosives on that thing first chance he got.  The last one didn’t work anymore after it had dumped its load in his brain, but that was no guarantee this one would be the same.  Everybody knows you don’t get too far by making assumptions.

He had no doubt that Daniel was right: Carter could figure out a way to get at the info they needed safely, without any head grabbing involved.  But she would need time for the ‘safely’ part, and Jack didn’t believe for one minute Anubis would give them that time. 

Need.  They needed the weapons.  They needed the info on the Lost City.  They needed time. 

They would take what they could get.

Given the very probable facts, Jack knew the choice they would likely be faced with.  There would be no choice, not for him.   He’d done it before.  He could do it again if it came to that.  There was no way on earth or any other planet he would allow any of them to take that burden, that risk.  Of all of them he was the most ‘dispensable.’ 

He mentally shied away from the ‘other’ reason: they were his kids, for cryin’ out loud, his family, his friends.  They were the people he loved most in the world.   No, if anyone would do it, it wouldn’t be one of them.  He would protect them.  He couldn’t do otherwise.

He sighed.

The Asgard hadn’t been around for awhile so he wouldn’t make any assumptions there either.  If this was to be how his silver cord was severed*, so be it.

He smiled grimly.  How many times had he faced his own death?  For that matter, how many times had he died, courtesy of Ba’al?  Usually he dealt with it by not dealing with it.  Somehow this was different.  There was so much more than his life at stake.

If things shook out like he expected, he knew it would be rough on his team.  He already knew what each of their individual reactions would be. 

He sat listening to the engine tick as it cooled in the parking lot.

Daniel, ever the optimist, would try to convince both of them that everything would be fine. 

Teal’c would be strong through it all.  Teal’c was even more laconic than he was when it came to these things.  He hoped T knew how much he relied on that strength.

Carter… Jack sighed.  He so did _not_ want to think about her feelings or his own. 

She would try…

Given the opportunity she would reach out to him and he sincerely hoped she did.  She never seemed to accept that, regulations or not, he would always be there for her.  He caught himself at the ‘always.’  Changed it to ‘as long as he was around…’  Either way, he would respect the boundaries she placed. 

Well, he couldn’t do much to protect them from their own feelings.  All he could do there was try to set them at ease.  Show them – show her - he was okay with it, whether he really was or not.

His eyes focused on a passing SF who was trying not to stare at him, sitting motionless in his truck.

What time was it?

It was time to go.  He was half an hour late, they’d be impatient… 

As his gaze fell, he saw the crossword lying forgotten on the passenger seat.  He reached for it and flipped his pencil around to erase.  At least he could make her smile one more time…

oO0Oo

_[O'Neill and an airman ride in the elevator. O'Neill continues to fill in the crossword. The airman looks over at the crossword, looks at O'Neill and shakes his head. The elevator stops at level 28, and both of them get out. Daniel, Carter and Teal'c are in the corridor, waiting for O'Neill. Daniel taps his watch as O'Neill emerges from the elevator. O'Neill stops and looks at them.]_

_O'NEILL: How long have you been waiting there?_   
_DANIEL: You said half an hour an hour ago._   
_CARTER: General Hammond's waiting._   
  
_[O'Neill walks towards Carter, hands her the crossword, smiles and walks towards the briefing room.]_

_O'NEILL: Excuse me._

_[Carter, Daniel and Teal'c follow. Carter looks at the completed crossword.]_

_CARTER:  The fate of the world is hanging in the balance, and you've been sitting in your truck, finishing this?_   
_O'NEILL: I believe it was double or nothing._   
_CARTER: Okay, 23 across, the atomic weight of boron. The answer is ten._   
_O'NEILL: Yes._   
_CARTER: You write the word fat._

_[She folds up the crossword, and hands it back to O'Neill, who snatches it back.]_   
  
_O'NEILL: Your point?_

END

  
*Ecclesiastes 12:6


End file.
